Have you had a chance to check out Bard on the Beach yet?
I recently spoke with actress Almeera Jiwa, whose debut season at Bard has her doing double duty as the lovelorn Hero in Much Ado About Nothing and as Cleopatra's dutiful servant Charmian in Antony and Cleopatra, about the Bard, the beach, and the best bargain shopping in Vancouver.
Almeera Jiwa as Charmian in Bard on the Beach's Antony and Cleopatra. David Blue photo.
Are you from Vancouver?
I’m from Coquitlam.
That’s kind of like Vancouver, isn’t it?
It is, yeah. It was really nice growing up there. It’s nice because you’re not too far from the city and not too far from the full-out country, Langley and Cloverdale. I used to work at a stable mucking stalls and tacking horses. It was fun. I think I got the best of both worlds living there.
Are you living in Vancouver now?
I am, by the PNE.
Tell me about your neighbourhood.
I live on Trinity Street, which is actually quite well known for their Christmas light competition. Every Christmas,the entire street comes together and they all pool in money – kind of like a 50-50 - and anybody can vote on which house they think has the best Christmas light display. And then the winner is announced and half of the money goes to them and then half the money goes to a cause in our neighbourhood. This year it went to a school that’s just up the street.
That’s amazing! I’ve never heard of that before. When you’re not doing Bard on the Beach or honing your Christmas light hanging skills, where can we find you and what are you doing?
I am definitely all over the place because I still have friends in Coquitlam. I like to do yoga in the park or go walking and exploring the neighbourhoods. A lot of my friends live in the Main St. area and I love the restaurants there. I recently became vegan … slash vegetarian … but the food around that area and also Commercial Drive is great for me because there’s a lot of vegetarian and whole foods. I love to cook, and I get great inspiration for vegetarian cooking ideas from those neighbourhoods.
I really like Nuba. I just discovered it when we were rehearsing Bard on the Beach, it’s really inexpensive. Up the street from there is The Foundation, which also has really great food. Yesterday I went to The Reef on Commercial Drive, and that was really yummy too – I loved their roti wraps.
Almeera Jiwa as Charmian, Jennifer Lines as Cleopatra. David Blue photo.
What’s it like being at Bard everyday?
First of all, it’s a great way to spend the summer, by the beach. We’ll walk up the back of the set to go onstage and the last thing I look out at is the ocean and the mountain range and the sky … it’s just beautiful. Even though today is overcast, there’s a tree out back that’s got two eagles living in it and they have a nest and their eggs are about to hatch soon. That’s just one of the many amazing things. But working with talented people – the entire cast are seasoned actors, so I am learning a lot from them. The work itself is fantastic. Running the show all summer really allows me to dig into it and really explore things and hone my craft.
Is this your first time doing Shakespeare?
No, it isn’t. I did As You Like It last year with a new theatre company out of Victoria called Blue Ridge Repertory Theatre and in theatre school at Studio 58.
I saw both Much Ado About Nothing and Antony and Cleopatra and loved them both, but I probably am a little biased towards the more comedic of Shakespeare’s work. I was really reminded of how great the writing is; practically every line had me thinking, “Wow, what a great line!” Do you have any lines, in either play, that really resonate for you?
Yes, absolutely. I was just talking about this with another actor from Bard – as actors, we have this thing in our everyday lives, where we sometimes you’ll say something and then go, “wait a second, that’s a line from the show!” Usually it wouldn’t stand out as much but when you’re doing Shakespeare it does. Yesterday I said one of Beatrice’s lines: “And truly, I hold it a sin to match in my kindred.” And it’s like, “OK, really? All of a sudden I just break out into Shakespeare?!”
My favourite line from Much Ado About Nothing - and probably one of my favourite lines from Shakespeare – is something Benedick says: “I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes.” It’s just so beautiful, romantic and sweet.
Ursula (Patti Allan), Hero (Almeera Jiwa) and Beatrice (Jennifer Lines) in Much Ado About Nothing. David Blue photo.
I am guessing that with two plays this summer at Bard, you require downtime every so often. When you need some retail therapy where do you go?
Ohhhhh … I have this balance thing, where I like to do a lot of really good, “quality” shopping for stuff that’s a little more expensive, like for the basics and things like that. Then I’ll also find places that are really random but really inexpensive. There’s a little store that I like to go to called Ruffles in Kingsgate Mall – I know, Kingsgate Mall, you wouldn’t think of going shopping there – but I saw this store and I got so excited because they had some fantastic deals on cool little shirts. Actually (get excited), I’m in love with American Apparel t-shirts and Ruffles, they sell them on clearance – they were $2! If you go to American Apparel and try to buy a t-shirt they’re at least $20.
It’s called Ruffles, in Kingsgate Mall? All right, now you’re speaking my language. This is what people need to know, little secrets of Vancouver …
(Laughs) They were $2 for short sleeved American Apparel t-shirts, $4 for long sleeved. Have you ever worn one?
I don’t own any American Apparel.
They fit fantastic for curvy women. And I’m short but, you know, I’ve got a womanly figure. They’re great because they fit really well.
They show off the good stuff.
Yes. I really like them, they’re really good quality..
Well, that’s pretty much the deal of the day. Our readers need to know about things like this. Any special reasons why they should spend some money and time at Bard this summer?
Well, if watching Shakespeare outside, in the park, where the backdrop is mountains and water and eagles flying around – sometimes they fly around while we’re doing scenes, it’s quite epic – it’s so much more than saying, “come and see our play.” The energy is so great… it’s really magical.
